San Antonio goalkeeper Stephon Castle was appointed recruit of the year of the NBA on Tuesday, joining Victor Wembanyama as the second consecutive player of the Spurs to win the award.
Castle won the Prix against Zaccharie Risacher of the Atlanta Hawks, which was the n ° 1 choice at last summer last summer, and Jaylen Wells of the Memphis Grizzlies. Castle won 482 points in total, compared to the 245 risacher received. Wells finished third with 123 points. Alex Sarr de Washington finished fourth, and the great man of the Grizzlies, Zach Edey, arrived fifth.
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Castle joined the Spurs as choice n ° 4 of the NBA 2024 draft after a single out -of -competition season in Uconn in which he helped the Huskies in a second consecutive NCAA championship in the first year.
Spurs now have consecutive winners of the recruit of the year at Stephon Castle and Victor Wembanyama. (Luke Hales / Getty Images)
(Luke Hales via Getty Images)
Playing in a team of Spurs with the veteran Chris Paul at the leader, Castle started his recruit season that comes out of the bench. He finally obtained a part -time place in the starting formation which evolved towards a full -time role in the rear area playing alongside Paul for the last month of the season after the finger injury of the De'Aaron Fox season.
In 81 games, including 47 departures, Castle has an average of 14.7 points, 4.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 0.9 interceptions per game while firing 42.8% on the field and 28.5% at 3 points.
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Castle is the recruit of the year in a relatively bottom recruits class which has not offered many challengers in the spotlight. Risacher and Sarr (n ° 2 in total) were written as projects, and everyone looked for the part of their respective recruit campaigns.
Risacher, a 6 -foot -8 -inch attacker, recorded on average 12.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game while pulling 45.8% on the field and 35.5% at 3 points. Sarr, a 7 -foot center, flashed in two directions as the season progressed but struggled with its effectiveness. He collected on average 13 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 blocks per game while pulling 39.4% on the field and 30.8% out of 5.1 attempts of 3 points per game.
Reed Sheppard, meanwhile, had a hard time finding playing time in the rotation of IME Udoka rockets after being selected n ° 3 in total by Houston. He only played 12.6 minutes per match in 52 appearances, with an average of 4.4 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists while pulling 35.1% of the 33.8% floor on 3. A choice of popular pre-season to compete for the recruit of the year, the Sheppard campaign was brought before it takes off.
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In the end, Castle offered the most coherent and productive recruit campaign, even though he fought with efficiency. It was effective at both ends of the soil and The higher weapons of the perimeter of regular opposing teams.
Alongside Wembanyama and Fox, Castle projects himself as an integral part of the promising heart of San Antonio in the future. With the lottery spurs, they will have the opportunity to add another talented young player in the draft of the June NBA.
